Guidelines blur distinction between Syariah and Civil law

It seems that the concert guidelines have not been well received, even among members of the Cabinet.

“I am glad I got to see Russell Peters in concert this time,” concert-goer Lucy Loh said.

“When I read Jakim’s latest guidelines in the papers two days ago, I was sure that he would never ever be allowed to perform in Malaysia again.”

According to her the show saw the comedian continuously deliver “raunchy jokes” at the expense of members of the audience, and aroused “excessive” laughter from all in attendance.

“About 30% of the crowd appeared to be Muslim,” Loh added. “Some even said that they had traveled from Brunei to watch the comedian live.”

Two days ago, Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Se-Malaysia (Jakim), which comes under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Department, announced new Guidelines for Entertainment in Islam (Garis Panduan Hiburan Dalam Islam 2014). Read them here

The guidelines have come on the back of several apparently controversial incidents occurring at recent concerts which Jakim director-general Othman Mustapha claimed had “shamed Malaysia and the Muslim community.”

Most notable among them was the K-Pop controversy on January 10 this year when a member of a South Korean boy band was alleged to have hugged and kissed tudung-clad Malay teenage girls, giving rise to threats by the authorities to charge those teenagers with Syariah offences and resulting in the organisers of that concert being blacklisted by the Communication and Multimedia Minister earlier this month.

Seeking to give guidance to the authorities, those involved in the entertainment industry and also the general public, the guidelines are an attempt to control various elements of entertainment, including the personality and appearance of the performer, the content of the performance and even the audience.

It seems that the guidelines have not been well received, even among members of the Cabinet.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wee Ka Siong was reported by The Star today as having said that Jakim had overstepped its bounds.

A senior lawyer told FMT that this was another instance when the intersection between Syariah law and civil laws in the country has given rise to uneasiness.

“We have seen in Western civilisation the movement towards the separation of church and state due to encroachments by each into the realms of the other other.”

“Our Federal Constitution has created a dual legal system. Civil law in all areas, except in matters within the jurisdiction of the syariah courts where syariah laws apply,” he said.

“But as time goes on, the distinction is becoming more and more blurred.”

More and more we see encroachment of these Syariah principles into governmental administrative matters which affects both Muslims and non-Muslims as well, he adds. “These guidelines are one such example.”

“It seems that government ministers do tend to refer to these guidelines in their decision-making, thereby giving syariah elements the force of law via the back door as demonstrated by Minister Shabery Cheek’s announcement that the KPop concert organiser has been blacklisted,” he said.

“It remains to be seen if anyone will challenge such decisions in court and how the courts will treat such disputes.”

Apart from the legality of the matter, the entertainment industry believes that the guidelines are unworkable and are bound to have a negative effect on the industry.

The guidelines say that performers must have a good personality. Their performance must comply with Islamic teaching and they must not play on the sensitivities of others.

The audience on the other hand must be segregated by sex and must not be provoked into unbridled laughter.

“To stand out in a crowded world where everyone believes himself to be a star, an entertainer must demonstrate some sort of extremity in his performance,” Ms Loh told FMT. “Russell Peters would not be funny if his jokes did not play on the sensitivities of different people.”

“Take that away and nobody will bother to attend, especially if it is only for a muted laugh,” she suggests.

“At the end of the day, all of us went home happy and with our moral values intact,” she adds. “That is testimony to the fact that we have strong religious beliefs which cannot be shaken easily.”

As the guidelines tend to show, the strict enforcement of religious principles in everyday life revolve around matters of interpretation and opinion, our senior lawyer tells us.

“The law ought not to reach too far into the personal space of citizens,” he opines.

“Perhaps, our politicians, legislators and civil servants should consider the words of Thomas Jefferson in 1802,” he adds.

Objecting to a law intended to prevent the free exercise of religion by the Baptist Church, Jefferson wrote that “the legitimate powers of government” must reach actions only, and not opinions.